Qasim Sheikh: ‘I exposed discrimination within Scottish cricket – and faced even more abuse’

© Nipun Chandra Surnilla on Unsplash

Qasim Sheikh helped bring to light institutional racism within Cricket Scotland in 2022 but says he has faced even more abuse since the official report was released.

Sheikh first noticed discrimination within Scottish cricket after getting into the national setup as a young player.

The 40-year-old went on to play more than 30 times for his country before being removed from the team, which he puts down to “having a voice.”

He said: “What I've always said, is playing through the junior ranks was, I always felt wasn't too bad, but when I got into the national setup, that's when I started really facing challenges.

“But I just felt like the opportunities that people of colour were getting compared to their white counterparts were not the same.

“The harsh dealings towards the people of colour, the criticism towards people of colour just didn't sit right.

“I was, you know, along with maybe another five or six South Asian players who played for the national team, and we all felt kind of the same way.

“But when you're in that environment, it's very difficult to really understand it or to call it out, because a lot of the time it's not very clear cut.

“I'm not talking people making racial slurs every other day. It wasn't that type.

“It was more kind of the institutional part of it, where, you know, if a South Asian player speaks out or shares an opinion, you know, he's really harshly grilled or dealt with by the institution.

“So, when my career finished - I didn't choose for my career to finish, I was removed from the team, probably because I had a voice, and I went public about it, and pretty much that, you know, ended my career.

“I was completely ostracised. I was isolated for many years.

“There were people who were my friends, who I’d played cricket with all my life, completely, you know, shied away from me. “So, it had a massive effect. It affected my cricket career, what I love to do, and you know, it lost me friends as well, for being somebody, that took a stance.”

Then, in 2021, the former batsman – along with fellow Scottish-South Asian player Majid Haque – spoke up about their experiences.

This prompted an independent investigation into the Scottish governing body for cricket, Cricket Scotland, which looked at allegations of institutional racism.

The results were published a year later and highlighted almost 500 instances of racism and discrimination within Cricket Scotland. The board stepped down a week before the report was released.

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Sheikh continued: “It's even worse now, since speaking out, you know you would have thought, I thought maybe we'd have brought closure - we were vindicated.

“But even now, you know people try to undermine, call us liars and [say] that these issues don't exist, and we are fabricating them.

“You know, we faced the media, the UK media, a lot of worldwide media as well.

“I didn't even think it was, maybe, as bad as what the report came out [with], if I'm being honest.

“You know, you don't realise, if you're just one person, you can only get a brief overview of everything. You think you know what's going on, but you don't know to what extent.

“So, I felt like that was a, I hoped, a turning point.

“We were vindicated for what we said.  “And my message was that I want to be part of that change. I want to help people, anybody who needs education, everybody needs help.

“I want to be somebody who is seen to work with people, because there's no point calling these things out, I don't believe, and then not having any substance off the back of it. “So, I felt like it was, it was a like, ‘draw a line, and let's now work towards making the changes that are required and moving forward from there’.”

“Unfortunately, it's not been as smooth sailing as that. Even now, we are getting threatened with legal action.

“We're getting, we've been, both myself and Majid have been absolutely annihilated on social media. To this day, if I was to go on social media right now, I'd probably see some level of abuse coming through.

“Yeah, so I hope that would be the case, but unfortunately, it's not been like that.”

‘There’s still not an acceptance’

The Glaswegian has spoken with people within Scottish cricket who want to make a change but insists that the biggest barrier to change is acceptance.

He said: “You know, I've sat down with many people who came with a smile, wanted to have a conversation, wanted to try and move things forward.

“But the more of these conversations you start to have, the biggest problem in all of these conversations is there's still not an acceptance.

“It's still a mindset, not by everybody, because that's unfair to say.

“There's lots of people that have been supportive and want to but there is a certain group of people who are of the viewpoint that this has all been blown out of proportion.

“So how can you really start to move forward with people like that until they accept?

“So if you tell me, homophobia exists, you know, or you tell me gender inequality exists, but I’m saying to you, no, it doesn't like no, I don't, I don't believe it does. How are we going to even start to move forward?

“Of course, it exists. It does exist. Racism exists. We know it exists. We see it all.

“We see it all, you know, all over the media, all over social media. There's plenty of it going around.

“But yeah, if there's not an acceptance, it's a very difficult position to be in, and you're going to struggle to start to move forward effectively until people accept that those issues exist.

“I think a lot of education is needed. A lot of education is needed.

“I don't have the blueprint. I'm not qualified to that extent to say exactly how that looks.

“But I think to start with, you know, sharing people with lived experience is very important.

“I think listening and being able to try and speak to people and educate them is probably the starting point.

“And I don't know the complete answers as much, because I don't believe in anybody being sidelined or moved away if they don't have a certain view.

“We all are entitled to our opinions. But I think there comes a time now we're in 2025 where [there is] just no place at all for discrimination.”

“I think sometimes people have got a view that politics shouldn't mix in sport.

“But I think you could try your hardest to not, but it would still happen, because you've got different countries playing against each other - they've got different political views.

“You're never going to cut it out of sport. Religion comes into play as well.

“I think sport has got a massive part to play, really, because I think inclusivity, if you push it in sport, and you make sure that everybody feels equal, you make sure that education is given to people, I think it could have a massive snowball effect on society in general and worldwide.

“So, sport is really important. I believe everybody should be partaking in sport.

“It's good for your health, it's good for your mental health, it's good for your physical wellbeing, and it can also be good for bringing people together.

“And it has to be something that drives change and inclusivity when it comes to such issues, when it comes to like, discrimination, racism, whatever it may be, sport should be a driving force behind that.”